JACKSONVILLE, FL—United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard sentenced Christopher Scott O’Brien, II (23, St. Johns County) to eight years and four months in federal prison for receiving child pornography over the Internet. O’Brien was also ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and register as a sex offender following his release.

According to court documents, an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began an undercover investigation to identify individuals, in the Jacksonville area, that had access to and/or were trading images and videos depicting child pornography over the Internet. The agent determined that a host computer in that area was hosting images of child pornography, using a file sharing program. The agent made successful connections to the host computer and downloaded several video files directly from the computer. Further investigation traced the subscriber information to a residence in St. Johns, Florida, where O’Brien resided.

On February 26, 2013, FDLE agents and other law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the residence and seized several computers and other electronic media. Subsequent analysis of O’Brien’s computer revealed that it contained approximately 838 videos in the “Saved” folder, at least 50 of which depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.